


Defiance

by Moonlitdarksword



Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Potential Finale Scenerio, Prediction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-27
Updated: 2016-01-27
Packaged: 2018-05-16 18:04:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5835487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moonlitdarksword/pseuds/Moonlitdarksword
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Vale burns, and the forces that conspire against Remnant step ever closer to victory.</p><p>But there are always those who defy fate. Four young Huntresses head to the final battle, raging against the dying of the light.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Defiance

Yang dashed down the maintenance halls of the Coliseum, hoping she could get there before the enemy.

As soon as the mystery woman’s speech had ended, Yang had snuck out the window and found the fastest ship to the arena, the White Fang and the Grimm be damned. After fighting her way to the landing pad and onto the Bullhead, she found the shredded, smoking remains of a pack of Beowolves. The fact that some of the pieces were frozen told her that her teammates had the same idea. She found her little sister curled in on herself, her eyes as red as her damp cloak. She told them everything. Fury boiled within as she realised how badly they had all been deceived: the hallucinations, Mercury walking around without a care in the world, the way he knew about Pyrrha’s Semblance and what Penny was. It all came together to make a horrifying amount of sense.

Next, everything happened at once. The Coliseum’s propulsion systems and defensive shields began to fail, and the massive battlefield began its slow descent as the Grimm poured in. Some Atlesian soldiers came and ushered Team JNPR to the docking bay to be evacuated along the civilians. They were understandably confused, but the faraway look in Pyrrha’s eyes told yang that she knew exactly where she was going. The next few minutes were a haze of red eyes, rending fangs and shell upon exploding shell as she punched and burned her way to the maintenance halls. While SSSN, CFVY and any other Hunter was assisting with the evacuation and exterminating Grimm, Ruby and Blake had flew away to who knows where while Yang and Weiss went deep into the inner mechanisms of the floating stadium in an effort to try and restore the damaged systems, or at least try to prevent any further damage before it crashed to earth.

She ran at a comfortable pace, navigating the labyrinthine quickly without burning too much energy. She quickly turned the corner, consulting the map she had constructed her mind. The shield generator was down here, right? Working by instinct, she went left the next turn, and knew immediately by who stood in her tracks that she was close. Just as Ruby said, there he was standing on his own two feet, pacing impatiently from one side of the hallway to the next.  
‘You know, I had just finished up here,’ Mercury reported, another cocksure grin on his face as he approached, ‘but somehow, I just knew you’d show up.’  
‘Get out of my way, Mercury,’ Yang growled, Ember Celica unfolding and locking into place. She didn’t know how he was still standing, or why he was doing this, but they could figure it out after they stopped the impending disaster. ‘I don’t exactly have a lot of time to waste.’ The entire stadium rocked and made them both stumble, and Yang’s stomach curled as a feeling of weightlessness quickly came and went. The falling Coliseum was beginning to pick up speed.  
‘Neither do I,’ he grunted as he reasserted his balance. ‘I just stuck around to see if you and your little friends wanted to screw with us again, and lo and behold, Team RWBY delivers once more! I’d love to stay and chat, but I don’t want to crushed by seven hundred thousand tons of rubble when this thing drops, so I think I’m just gonna kill you and then get the hell out of here.’ Without warning, he surged forward, jumping up and tucking his knees in as the momentum carried him towards his prey. Her Aura flaring, Yang brought up her arms and let her fists meet his bootsoles, firing Ember Celica at the same time her activating the mechanism in his boots to cancel his inertia. Mercury deftly flipped away from the deafening blast of their weapons and landed in a crouch. He collected his breath, his eyes coldly evaluating her as she settled into a standard boxing stance.  
‘I guess we’ll have to do this the hard way after all,’ her surmised. His voice was thick with a mocking facsimile of regret, but the grin on his face couldn’t get any wider, and for the first time, Yang paid attention to the look in his eyes. How wrong had she been to assume he had just been some socially blind goofball. She had seen that look during the tournament round where everything had gone so wrong. Those were the eyes of a cold blooded killer.

She smashed her fists together, and fire blossomed around her like a solar flare. She narrowed her blazing eyes and pumped a fist, sounding off the _chik-chik_ of Ember Celica priming a shell. He was just another obstacle on the route to wherever this damn shield generator was. She howled alongside the roaring flames of her Semblance as she charged. For how Mercury had screwed her over; for everything Emerald, Torchwick and whoever else they were working with had done, Yang swore to herself that they would burn.

* * *

 

‘You sure this is the way to the propulsion system?’  
‘Of course I’m sure, you dunce!’

Trust Neptune Vasilias to ask such a question. As brilliant as he was, there were still many areas in which his mind was unfocused. For example, he had such a keen eye for the finer details that he often completely missed the obvious. That was just one of the things Weiss found so enticing and so irritating about him.

While Sun, Scarlet and Sage assisted with the evacuation, Weiss had borrowed Neptune because his technological expertise would be needed to bring the propulsion systems back into order. Even then, she knew it was a slim hope. She surmised that for something to go this catastrophically wrong, that meant either the automated systems keeping everything in check had been sabotaged, or the technology itself had been manually tampered with. The technicians overseeing everything were likely already dead, given that the degenerates behind this clearly had no problem killing thousands of innocent people. Whoever they were, they would do everything within their power to make sure that their plan went ahead without a hitch, and that included making sure the shield generator and propulsion system stayed out of commission. Weiss kept a close hand towards Myrtenaster, knowing that eventually she would face opposition, be it Grimm, White Fang, or otherwise.

Only she hadn’t been expecting Emerald to step out the door to the engine room. She and Neptune stopped, weapons brought to bear, and Emerald simply rolled her eyes with a disgusted groan.  
‘You idiots never know when to quit,’ she sighed, lazily drawing one of the revolvers from the small of her back. ‘Why can’t you just accept that everyone in this Coliseum is going to die?’  
‘Why are you doing this, Emerald?’ Weiss reached out. If she really was responsible for the disarray this station was in, then Weiss felt no sympathy. But she had to at least try to talk her down, she owed that much to Ruby. ‘This and...whatever you did to Yang and Pyrrha?’  
‘Just following orders,’ she shrugs. ‘Honestly, the look on the bimbo’s face alone was worth all time I spent here, but as far as the boss is concerned, that’s just the icing on the cake.’ Weiss noted the fact that she was taking orders from someone, and didn’t deny the accusation. She decided to press further, seeing what else she could dig out of her.  
‘How could you?’ she asked, hurt and rage choking her voice. It was only partially an act. ‘I thought you were our friend. Ruby trusted you.’  
‘I guess you guys really are as dumb as you look,’ she hissed. ‘Do you honestly believe I enjoyed a single goddamned second around you guys? It was a wonder I didn’t kill the little piece of snot when I could, but Cinder wants her for some reason. I learned long ago not to question her.’ Weiss kept her rage in check, and noted the name that she had let slip. Now all that was left was figuring out what this Cinder wanted.  
‘Whatever you’re planning, you’re fighting a losing battle,’ she taunted. Emerald might let loose that critical piece of information if she got under her skin.  
‘Yeah,’ Neptune cheered, raising his glaive and putting on his best “determined, yet intimidating” grin. ‘Don’t think we’re going down that easy.’ Emerald raised an eyebrow, and chuckled contemptuously.  
‘We’ve already won,’ she exclaimed, her grin a little too wide for comfort. ‘I wouldn’t even be talking to you two if there was the slightest chance you could turn this around. But still there’s no harm in making sure. Mercury! Now!’

Weiss felt the hairs rise on the back of her neck, and quickly turned to see Mercury in the air, leaping to collide with her foot-first. Reacting rather than thinking, she summoned a glyph and sent a burst of her Aura through it, launching a volley of several small, yet heavy balls of ice. The snowballs met Mercury on his collision course, and sailed through the grey image like a mirage, eliciting a cry of pain from Neptune as they smashed into him and bowled him off his feet.  
‘Neptune!’ Weiss cried. Dread mounted within her as Neptune groaned, clutching his stomach as he tried to get up, wincing as he did so. If she had reacted with lethal force...her horror was forgotten as she heard laughter ring out from behind her. She turned slowly and deliberately on her heel, watching as Emerald clutched her own stomach and laughed with genuine amusement.  
‘That’s...’she wheezed, taking a moment to wipe away a mirthful tear. ‘That’s the same way Yang reacted...right down to that moronic look on your face...Your face!’ Her laughter soon gave way to a series of deep, jolly sighs as duty reasserted itself in her mind, a process accelerated by the gooseflesh crawling on her bare arms. Neptune finally struggled his way to his feet and noticed it as well. Was it the fact that he just got pelted by a dozen snowballs, or did it just get a hell of a lot colder in here?  
‘Neptune,’ Weiss hissed, mist on her breath. Her icy eyes zeroed in Emerald’s ruby eyes, Myrtenaster raised and right foot forward. ‘You need to help with the evacuation.’  
‘What?’ Neptune balked. ‘After what she just did? Weiss, if you take her on by yourself—’  
‘It’s better than letting her make us attack each other,’ she asserted, and Neptune felt the cold more bitterly than before. After getting to know her a little, he knew that her tone brooked no argument. It was best not to contradict her when she spoke in the Schnee voice, as Ruby called it. Without another word, he turned and headed back to the surface of the arena.  
‘Not your smartest move, rich girl,’ Emerald noted slyly, drawing the other revolver, and with a flick of her wrists she extended the jade green sickles embedded within them. ‘Your team never had a chance, not since the beginning, and sure as hell not now. You’re fighting for a world that’s ending as we speak, but I’ve seen the future. Cinder has shown me what Remnant will become.’ She narrowed her eyes, crouching down as she pointed her suckles forward. ‘And it is a world I would gladly die for.’ And then with a sound that grated on Weiss’ nerves, she vanished. The heiress placed a glyph under her own feet in preparation. Justice would be served today, and it would be served cold.

* * *

 

Adam Taurus had been waiting for this day all his life.

When their new leader took over five years ago, he promised that under his command, the White Fang would tear out the throats of the men who held their chains and pave the way for the ascendancy of their species. Despite his misgivings with the plan, Adam felt nothing but pride that he would be the one to make their leader’s vision a reality. Something hot burned in his throat at the knowledge that he owed it all to a human, and the knowledge that she was the only reason they had made it this far made him angrier still.

His end of the plan had gone off without a hitch. He personally led the charge as the men and women under him corralled the Grimm onto Beacon’s campus, and in those hallowed halls they would all feast on the Hunters that the pathetic humans relied upon so heavily to keep their rotting Kingdoms safe. His Scroll kept him updated as he drafted the text that would move the plan to its next stage. He knew now that the Grimm were flooding the streets, ripping apart the Atlesian soldiers that would keep his people in Schnee’s mines, the humans of a Kingdom turned a blind eye to their plight, and the filthy traitors that lived peacefully alongside the humans, content to be the beasts that humanity saw them as. The Atlesians and the Hunters were already hard at work evacuating the “good citizens” stuck on the Coliseum, and that was where Adam came in. Unbeknownst to them, many members of the audience were White Fang sleepers, masks, weapons and Dust smuggled past security. Once he received a report that all the civilians had been evacuated, he needed only send one text and every simpering coward on those airships would become a hostage. He was again forced to admit how devious that woman was. She reminded him of a tragic hero from a Grimmdark novel; a Huntress who sold her soul for unnatural power, now hell-bent on tearing down a world she had once sworn to protect. He cooperated with her out of some measure of fear, no matter how much he told himself otherwise, and because he knew they wanted the same thing in the end: rivers of blood through the streets of Vale.

He shook his head and banished those thoughts. He needed to remain free from distraction if he was to secure the school. The students and faculty had now culled the Grimm to negligible numbers, as he expected, and now they were in the ideal state, terrified, exhausted and in short supply of Dust. His subordinates, the only true Faunus on this campus, would pick off individual teams and tighten their position like a noose. Though their rifles were weak compared to the master-crafted Hunter weapons, each White Fang trooper had a surplus of Dust on their person, and no one’s Aura could withstand an infinite amount of bullets. One by one, the children who represented humanity’s greatest hope for their continued existence would fall, and the Faunus among them would be spared and subdued. He needed to make an example of them, and their pain would serve as a final lesson to those who would dare betray their kind.

‘Adam!’ He froze, his grip on Wilt tightening. He knew that voice anywhere, even over the wail of two engines. He had never expected to hear it again.  
_‘Speaking of traitors...’_ he thought, allowing himself a smirk as her turned towards the descending Bullhead. Two figures dropped from the aircraft that flew in low and fast. He blinked and then there was one, surrounded by petals flying haphazardly in the wind. He concerned himself only with the familiar girl, ignoring the blur that streaked past him and the Ursa that collapsed into two pieces only a second later.  
‘Blake Belladonna,’ he announced, his thumb pressing into Blush’s hilt, pushing it out to reveal a slither of the red steel inside. His guards, the ones whose loyalty was of no question, fanned out behind him, rifles pointed at this new threat. ‘You’re either brave or stupid if you’ve decided to face me head-on.’  
‘Adam, what is the meaning of this?’ she thundered, her two blades gripped taut in her shaking hands. The outburst caught Adam off-guard, but heartened him slightly. Seemed she still had a spine. ‘How is this helping our people?’  
‘ _Our_ people?’ he snapped, fury igniting his breath. ‘You’re the one who abandoned us! You betrayed our cause and cast your lot in with this pathetic academy, seeking tokens of pity from these humans. If you were a true Faunus, you would have died to see the end of these wretched nations of theirs. But instead, you abandoned your pride and your people, and now you’re nothing but another treacherous servant of their kind.’  
‘You’re one to talk about pride,’ she hissed, narrowing her eyes as her voice went dangerously low. ‘I was at that rally in the industrial district a few weeks ago. Torchwick said a few platitudes about taking down the ones in power, and these “true Faunus” you speak of? They ate it up. Now he’s on that airship bombing anything he can see, and do you think he’ll spare you when he gets here? Is this what you’re so proud of?’  
‘Enough!’ he growled as he leaped forward, Blush rocketing from Wilt as he closed the distance. Blake floated back like a fingersnap, letting the ninjato shred through the clone as she reasserted her footing. Adam fumed as he caught his breath. Couldn’t she see he had no choice? ‘This isn’t a question of pride anymore,’ he whispered, especially grateful for his mask. ‘Now it’s matter of survival. The world is changing, and the era of peace the humans have enjoyed at our expense is over. When Remnant is reduced to ash, our species will take our rightful place from underneath their scorched bones. All who oppose us will burn alongside them, no matter who they are.’ Adam could tell form the look in her eye that she understood the implication. She saw many things swirl about in those amber pools. Regret, disappointment, and then the fixed onto his eyes through the slits in his mask. He saw fury, cold and sharp.  
‘Fine then,’ she acquiesced, jamming the long blade of Gambol Shroud into the landing pad. With her now-free hand, she reached to her dark tresses and gripped at the black bow crowning her head.  
‘I see,’ he chuckled, twirling the blood-coloured blade in his grip as he watched the ribbon float away into the night winds. He felt her Aura ignite as she picked up her blade once more and assumed her stance, the proof of her heritage standing high on her scalp. ‘Let’s have our pride do the talking.’

Without another word, they charged.

* * *

 

Cinder Fall navigated the abandoned corridors of Beacon with methodical grace, letting the hunger that burned within guide her.

What Maiden power she had managed to absorb that day called out to its other half, and she felt some intangible cord lead her somewhere deep beneath the beneath the school. It was laughable to think that they could hide it from her for long. She looked at the ancient, cavernous walls of the subterranean vault, wide floors and ceilings climbing high into the shadows. Undoubtedly, Ozpin and his cronies were keeping the Maiden and her prospective heir in its deepest cloister. If the top-secret documents she had secured turned out to be more than mere conjecture, then they likely fuse their Auras, creating a new Guardian in a final, desperate attempt to deny her. It wouldn’t matter what Atlas’ crimes against nature could accomplish, the outcome would be the same.

She had come to the entrance of the vault easily enough. The White Fang had done their job. While she let them have their fun lashing out like the beasts they were, they didn’t need to know that the sole purpose of them and the Grimm they had captured was to keep her path clear; just as Adam didn’t need to know about the explosives wired onto his sleeper agents. Any who dared to stand in their way either moved or fell where they stood, but there were only three in particular she needed wasted her breath on: Nikos’ team, rallying by the entrance in some delusion of a heroic last stand. They were all somewhat stronger than her initial assessment of them, and the Arc boy’s Semblance had been a nasty surprise, but once she tapped into the power she had taken, they were just as pathetic as the rest. She broke them, but they still drew breath. Let them know they failed to protect their dear friend. Let them make hearty meals for the Grimm.

She smiled as her heels clicked against the marble floor at a slow staccato pace. There was no need to rush. She checked her Scroll. The Grimm had just broken through the industrial sector’s barriers. The Atlesian and Valish armies were in total disarray, thanks to Roman and Neo. The casualty reports were nothing short of catastrophic. It didn’t matter if they succeeded in creating a new Guardian. Even if they drove her away from the power she desired, it would only be a matter of time before she returned. No matter what happened tonight, Remnant would never be the same again, and the weak, stupid, cowardly citizens of the Four Kingdoms would flock to anyone who could pave the way to a new future. She would do so happily, and inevitably, she would gain control of the power she craved; the power she _deserved_.

‘Stop right there!’ Cinder did just that. She buried the anger that formed a hot coil in her core, and grinned contemptuously as she turned to the source of the voice. She had plenty of time to indulge her, after all. Ruby Rose held her scythe low and to the side, its crescent blade with the black ichor of the Grimm. Her knees were bent and elbows in, making her appear even smaller than usual, but her silver eyes glimmered with dark determination. There wasn’t an ounce of fear in the way she looked at her. It was infuriating. ‘You’re responsible for all this...for Penny.’  
‘You make the unlikeliest of friends, don’t you, Ruby Rose?’ Cinder chuckled, not letting her anger rise to the surface. When she had found out her name, she had thought it was simply a coincidence, but after further research, it turned out she really was the daughter of Summer Rose. After that, Cinder had found her new backup plan. ‘The scion of one of the greatest corporate magnates in Remant, a traitor among a group of terrorists, and Ironwood’s secret weapon. I find it baffling how you could shed tears over a mere automaton.’  
‘Penny had a heart,’ Ruby declared, tightening her grip on the overdesigned machines she called her weapon. ‘That’s more than I can say about you.’ Cinder narrowed her eyes as she felt Ruby’s Aura intensify. For months now, she had allowed her to interfere; content in the knowledge that there was nothing she could to derail her plans. But now? Surely she must have known how futile coming here was. Couldn’t she see how outmatched she was? Why did she continue to defy her?  
‘Turn back,’ Cinder all but spat, not even bothering to hide her contempt beneath a veneer of amusement. ‘You have only one chance. Let me take what I’ve come here for, and we can part ways.’  
‘No,’ Ruby cried vehemently, pointing her scythe forward, the blade unfurling outwards to point straight ahead. ‘I don’t know what exactly you’re here for, but I know you’re going to hurt Pyrrha. You’ve already killed Penny, destroyed our Kingdom, and invaded our school. I’m never going to let you hurt anyone else, even if it kills me.’  
‘Then let it kill you!’ Cinder snapped, igneous blades crystallising in her hands as she flicked her arms out. Cinder lunged forwards, and her last thoughts before her instincts took over were about how she could make this work. She wouldn’t kill her. Perhaps she’d take a limb or two before she took out the key to her victory. Instead of the powers of one Maiden, she could take the power of one and a half. The girl was inexperienced, too merciful to be a true Huntress, and showed no outward indication of the power she knew lay within. She had missed her chance with Summer all those years ago, and she never made the same mistake twice.

In response to Cinder’s charge, Ruby dashed forward, spinning Crescent Rose and swinging it forward. Steel clashed with glass, and burning petals flew from the point of impact.

**Author's Note:**

> This was a quick oneshot based on some ideas that won't get out of my head otherwise.
> 
> Basically, it's kind of a volume finale kind of thing were each member of RWBY faces off against their respective nemeses. There's basically no way this is going to happen, but...eh?
> 
> Also, I'm one of those people who think Ruby is a Maiden via Summer. Also according to this fic, Cinder had something to do with her death? I don't know, man, my headcanon on what exactly happened to Summer changes every week. Either way, Cinder has been after the Maidens for a long ass time, so...
> 
> Anyway, I should be getting back to my main fic. Remember to comment and Kudos, they really help.


End file.
